WELLINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met with the heads of the country's four largest retail banks last week to seek assurances they are stable and well positioned to lend, local media reported on Tuesday.
The meetings were described by Key as a 'health check'. All the banks assured him they were sound, although they had noticed a fall in demand for credit.
'They have expressed a strong willingness to lend and confidence that they can raise money,' The Dominion Post newspaper reported Key as saying.
The banking sector in New Zealand was in better shape than the United States or Europe, Key told reporters.
Key met the chief executives of all four banks in separate meeting on Thursday and Friday last week.
He also told the banks he wanted to see them pass on lower interest rates to consumers.
On Jan. 29, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered interest rates by 150 basis points to 3.5 percent, a record low. Rates have been cut a total of 475 basis points from a record of 8.25 percent since the central bank began its easing cycle in July 2008.
New Zealand's four main retail banks, all Australian-owned, are ANZ-National, Westpac, Bank of New Zealand, which is owned by National Australia Bank, and ASB, owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(Reporting by Adrian Bathgate) Keywords: NEWZEALAND ECONOMY/KEY (adrian.bathgate@reuters.com; +64-4-4714233; Reuters Messaging: adrian.bathgate.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The meetings were described by Key as a 'health check'. All the banks assured him they were sound, although they had noticed a fall in demand for credit.
'They have expressed a strong willingness to lend and confidence that they can raise money,' The Dominion Post newspaper reported Key as saying.
The banking sector in New Zealand was in better shape than the United States or Europe, Key told reporters.
Key met the chief executives of all four banks in separate meeting on Thursday and Friday last week.
He also told the banks he wanted to see them pass on lower interest rates to consumers.
On Jan. 29, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered interest rates by 150 basis points to 3.5 percent, a record low. Rates have been cut a total of 475 basis points from a record of 8.25 percent since the central bank began its easing cycle in July 2008.
New Zealand's four main retail banks, all Australian-owned, are ANZ-National, Westpac, Bank of New Zealand, which is owned by National Australia Bank, and ASB, owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(Reporting by Adrian Bathgate) Keywords: NEWZEALAND ECONOMY/KEY (adrian.bathgate@reuters.com; +64-4-4714233; Reuters Messaging: adrian.bathgate.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.